It’s Witchcraft

It was yet another absolutely wild (but amazing) weekend. From spending some time with family who were in town on Friday night and Saturday morning to driving down to Rochester, Minnesota, on Saturday afternoon to take in all the glory that was the Rochester Thaw festival to doing the radio show on Sunday morning, by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I was beyond exhausted. I had sat down just to take a quick rest before diving into some work on Sunday afternoon, but the diving into work never happened. I was out cold on the couch covered in a blanket of cats, and, truthfully, I never wanted to leave, but my weekend had one more treat in store, and that treat was the always lovely Tina Schlieske.

Tina has taken many forms over the years. Possibly best known for fronting Tina and the B-Sides, Tina has also fronted a personal favorite of mine, Genital Panic– a feminist punk band with a whole lot of rage and frustration. Both of these projects of Tina’s lean into a more rockin’ vibe, but that was not the form that I saw her in on Sunday night at the always amazing Dakota in downtown Minneapolis. This is what I love about Tina. She doesn’t just bend genre lines, she defies them. Sure, in my mind, she’s a punk icon, but there’s no denying that she can button up ever so slightly and absolutely nail a jazz performance, as proven on Sunday night.

Sure, my lack of any real sense of energy had me wishing this was a Genital Panic performance or something with a little bit more chutzpah, if only to keep my body and mind awake through the night, but within the first couple of bars of her opening track, I was transfixed. I watched and listened in awe as Tina and her amazing band played through classic after classic. From Billie Holiday to Nina Simone, it was track after track of familiar licks and words that I had been hearing here and there for years, but with a little magical spin that can only be considered “the Tina spin.” Okay, I’m totally making that phrase up, but I think you understand what I’m trying to say here. Tina absolutely paid homage to the original tracks in the performance, but they weren’t dead-ringer covers, and I couldn’t have been happier about that. Cover songs are great, they truly are, but without a little personalization and flair, why would I want to hear them from someone else? I could just listen to the original. I was worried that this was going to be how this show went, but I should have known better. Tina doesn’t just carbon copy anything. She’s a true individual, a force to be reckoned with, and I knew, in my heart of hearts, that I was going to get so much more than just a carbon copy.

The crossover from punk to jazz is not an obvious one, but it works so well for Tina. Sure, she felt a bit more buttoned up than when I had seen her perform as her rock persona, but there was still that tiny hint of grit and snark behind her as she stood there in a beautiful suit with a perfectly crafted upswept pompadour hairstyle. I love how she brought this almost raspy, smoky, and sultry element to the music that, if you ask me, wasn’t there for the originals that she was covering. Again, this was Tina’s way of adding her personality to iconic tracks while making sure the original was still preserved in a way. Sure, I was hearing the classics, but I was listening to Tina. I know I keep saying this, but really, it was a highlight of Sunday night for me.

Tina wasn’t the only performer who dazzled under the bright lights of the Dakota stage– the rest of her band was absolutely perfect. I’m not going to bore you with all of the names and instruments (although they each deserve their name in lights), but I will just say that Tina’s band, like the set list, could not have been more beautifully curated. It was obvious to see Tina’s heart on her sleeve as she sang through the tracks, but that was not the only heart left out for all to see. All of the musicians were putting their all into every note. Every beat was perfectly crafted from the tone to the dynamics and everything in between. The respect that this band gave each other was truly as stunning as the respect they gave the music, and it really acted as the cherry on top of a beautiful night.

I was exhausted on Sunday night, and I’ll be honest, there were moments where I felt myself drifting away from my table and into this dream-like world, but that’s not because I was bored with what was happening, more that I found this insane amount of comfort from it all. Tina’s voice felt therapeutic, and it was the first moment in my weekend where I felt that I was able to just sit and breathe, which told me everything I needed to know– this was the best and only way to cap off what had been a beautifully insane and chaotic weekend.